State championship games need no introductions. It’s Ansonia against North Branford for all the Class S marbles on Saturday morning at Rentschler Field. Let’s go.

No. 1 Ansonia (13-0) vs. No. 3 North Branford (12-0)

Ansonia’s defense pitched a shutout in last year’s state championship game but Ephraim Collins and his teammates will face a prolific North Branford offense Saturday morning at Rentschler Field. Credit: GWImages/@GWImages

Remmy’s Keys to the Game: It’s finally here — the state title game. And Ansonia will face the most balanced team (with averages of 226 rush yards and 234 pass yards per game) it’s faced all season long. I remember 2008, when the Chargers lost a close game to another team out of the Pequot, Cromwell. Cromwell had some athletes that year and ran the spread very well, especially in the second half. In 2010, we saw Ansonia keep it close for a while before St. Joseph pulled away to win the game with a big pass play over the middle for a touchdown. The Chargers have had issues stopping passing teams from tearing them up on defense in previous state title games. Ansonia dominates games against passing teams with weak fronts because it can pressure the quarterback on every play. So what have I seen? North Branford doesn’t look nearly as physical as Ansonia and ultimately that’s what will decide this game. Ansonia has been able to blitz teams frequently but will have to play it just a tad safer this week because North Branford can both run and pass. Can Ansonia rush six or seven instead of eight or nine and still win this game? We’ll see. As for North Branford, it’ll have to go with the flow and make sure it executes down to a tee. Teams can’t afford to make mistakes against Ansonia when the Chargers are vulnerable.Kyle’s Keys to the Game: The Thunderbirds are a fascinating team. They are probably the most balanced team I’ve seen all year and can really move the ball. Everyone likes to pay attention to their passing game but the running game made all the difference in the semifinals against Woodland, against whom North Branford ran for nearly 350 yards. But as Hyde found out against Ansonia in the semis, it’s awfully tough to run against the Chargers. The threat of the passing game should open up things a little bit but the Thunderbirds will have to succeed early in the passing game to establish that balance (a lot of times it’s the other way around). North Branford’s defense thrives on turnovers to keep it in ballgames. The Thunderbirds forced five fumbles against Woodland and have 28 takeaways on the season. If they can’t force a few more turnovers against the Chargers it’s hard to see them winning, especially because North Branford’s defense isn’t a shutdown unit like Ansonia’s. The Thunderbirds tackle fairly well but they aren’t physically overwhelming (they and the Chargers should be pretty much even in size). If North Branford can’t score into the 30s, it has no shot in this game. The Thunderbirds’ main rushers, Dale Hausman and Joe DeLucia, are similar to what Ansonia had in 2010 with Montrell Dobbs and Arkeel Newsome (a middle rusher and an edge guy). They’ll be huge.

Remmy’s Players to Watch: North Branford quarterback Brandan Basil is the guy to watch this week. The Thunderbirds will either win or lose depending on this kid’s play. The senior has thrown for 2,793 yards and 40 touchdowns this season while only throwing seven interceptions. He’s also the second-leading rusher on the team. North Branford has three receivers with more than 500 receiving yards: Alex McGuigan (35 rec, 545 yards), Joe DeLucia (42 rec, 702 yards) and Chris Caron (48 rec, 993 yards). They have combined for 35 touchdowns. And watch out for linebacker Gary Falanga, who will be all over the place for the T-birds on defense. We know the usual playmakers are on Ansonia, but I have a feeling we’ll be talking a lot about some of the more under-the-radar guys on defense after this game is over. Linebackers Ephraim Collins and Hezekiah Duncan Jr. and safety Ryan O’Connor will need to make big plays, and I expect them to on Saturday morning. These three have been laying the biggest hits I’ve seen all year against their opponents. Jh’mel Trammel has also been a beast on defense this season. It’s his senior year and I expect him to have a big game in the trenches and disrupt the North Branford passing game as well running back Dale Hausman (129 rush, 1,311 yards, 13 TD).Kyle’s Players to Watch: Everything for North Branford will start with Basil and his different looks from shotgun (throws, handoffs and option reads) but Hausman and DeLucia could be the differences. Hausman is just really solid who runs hard and is excellent in the screen game. DeLucia will be as fast as anyone on the field and is used a lot like Ansonia’s Andrew Matos (with a little more use in the running game). North Branford’s secondary showed some weakness against Woodland, especially after the Hawks established the run. There’s no doubt that the Chargers will have success on the ground with Arkeel Newsome but they can really break open the game if Jai’Quan McKnight has a game like he had against Naugatuck on Thanksgiving, both with his legs and hitting Matos on a few long balls. Either way, Ansonia will end up with its usual 35-plus points. North Branford has to score with the Chargers and make it a game into the fourth quarter.

Picks: Remmy- Ansonia, 48-20. Kyle- Ansonia, 41-24.

And our picks for the other three state semifinals (all games will be live on CPTV Sports and the CIAC Network):

Class LLNo. 3 Xavier (11-1) vs. No. 5 Norwich Free Academy (12-0): These may be the two hottest teams in the state. Nobody has been better than Xavier since it started the 28-point comeback against Hillhouse midway through the season, and nobody expected NFA to upset Staples and deny us the chance to see a Xavier-Staples rematch. There are all sorts of great players in this game but NFA’s Marcus Outlow has broken onto the scene more than anyone in recent postseason memory. He is as strong a running back as there is in the state and his matchup against the Xavier linebackers will be fascinating Friday night.Picks: Remmy- Xavier, 24-21. Kyle- Xavier, 30-17.

Class LNo. 1 Daniel Hand (12-0) vs. No. 2 Windsor (11-0): If the Tigers win this game, they will be the fairly undisputed No. 1 team in the state. But Windsor is a fantastic team that has been on a mission since a come-from-ahead loss in last year’s playoffs. Hand is as tough as teams get and has always hit hard, exemplified by Matt Walsh’s blood-inducing hit in the semifinals. But Windsor is huge and is excellent on both sides of the ball. This very well could be the best game of them all.Picks:Remmy-Daniel Hand, 34-22. Kyle- Windsor, 27-21.

Class MNo. 2 Berlin (11-1) vs. No. 4 Hillhouse (10-2): The Academics’ athletes are far superior to Berlin’s in this game. Harold Cooper is one of the best running backs on the state and Andre Anderson does a great job of spelling him. Hillhouse hits as hard as anyone, too, although it doesn’t necessarily have a shutdown defense. Berlin needs to find a way to control the ball to win the game.Picks:Remmy- Hillhouse, 42-18. Kyle- Hillhouse, 34-21.

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86 Responses to “Class S Final: Ansonia vs. North Branford”

I truly believe this AHS vs T-bird game will be a blowout. NB is getting alot of hype and many believe they are the most balanced team AHS has played since St Joes. Game jitters and all the anxiousness of what people are saying will get to them.. Hillhouse will drill Berlin, u gotta remember this House team was burying Xavier and fell apart. Hand is the best team I’ve seen this year, they treated Masuk as if they were 5-5. NFA will beat Xavier in a tight game. NFA is hot right now, Boyle throws way too much, if they hand it to Berry more they will keep it real close.

For those wondering about why Ansonia hasn’t played up when it wins on a regular basis…

In 1978 and 1981, Ansonia petitioned up to Class LL because even back then the “old blues” were lamenting how Ansonia was being short-changed and not getting the respect it deserved in the polls. The Chargers lost both of those games to Amity (1978) and Newington in 1981. The following year (1982), the CIAC eliminated the idea of teams moving up. The CIAC mandated that teams play in their own classes and that’s how it’s been ever since.

For those of you thinking of tailgating with us – you’re more than welcome to come by. Last year’s tailgate at Rentschler Field was the biggest we’ve ever had and it was AWESOME!

We had over 100 people for the last one. Many Ansonia and NVL supporters (including coaches from other teams) came by. All we ask is that you bring some breakfast food so there is enough food for everyone.

And remember, I’m not taking the hit for anyone that decides to make it obvious that they’re pounding down you know what. It won’t stop anyone, I know – just be careful. I’ll be drinking coffee, right @nhbeast?

I’ll be making ABTs just like I did for last year’s tailgate. If you don’t know what a smoked ABT (Atomic Buffalo Turd) is, look here.

Good luck to the Chargers (the only NVL team in it). It’s been a pleasure to watch these kids since freshman year. #loveletters
Wish Lester could play in this game because I thought he’d be a beast as a senior when I first saw him at the freshman level.

Another kid that comes to mind if Ryan O’Connor — one of the unsung heroes of the Ansonia defense. No one really talks about him. Yet, he is among the leaders in tackles for Ansonia every year at the varsity level. I love it when he just picks kids up and slams them to the ground as if it were nothing.

Then you have kids like Sanders, Duncan and Finney on defense who have been laying some mean hits on kids. It should be fun to watch as I don’t think North Branford has been hit, the way Ansonia is capable of hitting, all season long.

…and I wouldn’t say they got “smacked back down”. They lost both by 2 TDs. In ’79 they played Amity again, I believe, and beat them like 44-0. There’s no shame in losing, especially when you have the balls to try it.

What people forget is Ansonia put their 36-game winning streak on the line when they opted up and played Amity in ’78. There aren’t too many other programs in CT who are confident enough to do that. If memory serves me correctly, they beat Seymour 28-14 for the ’79 Class M title. Then lost to Newington playing up in ’80. Ansonia played for a state title in 9 straight seasons (7-2) from ’76 – ’85 and 14 out of 17 (10-4) from ’76 – ’92. That’s pretty impressive.

take it easy Ansonia folks. good grief. Even Remmy has converted to logic in recent months…..take notes.

Your constant defending of the program is unnecessary here. You are preaching to the converted. This is not the CTPOST blog….everyone here holds hands and agrees you guys are MILES above the 13 other NVL teams combined. We got it.

Here is my point.

You guys launch into this Ansonia is #1 and could beat anyone argument most years around this time. Fact: It cannot be proven. Yet you don’t stop, and you don’t let it go.

Fact: the 2 times you did step up and challenge yourself, you lost. Does that mean you should feel shame? No. Does it mean your not still a great team year in and out? Of course not.

What it does mean is that there are usually a handful of pretty good teams every year, and you have no actual ground to stand on to say you would beat these teams, and history (yes only 2 instances but all we have) prove that moving up would be harder than you make it sound.

The problem with blogs, texts, emails, etc. is that words can be perceived as defensive. As is the case here Ribbs. My post was simply responding to yours with a logical reason why Ansonia opted up. They had won 36 games in a row and welcomed a challenge and an opportunity. Lets be honest you didn’t post expecting not to get a reaction. And I’m on record saying Ansonia can’t worry about the #1 ranking. It doesn’t matter, just get the ring. I also believe that, should NFA win and Hand lose, NFA could jump to #1.

I find it very interesting that on both this blog and SPB’s there are posts trying to shoot down the Ansonia folks staking their claim for #1. Here’s the interesting part: there are only maybe one or two such Ansonia folks making this claim.

The vast majority like ksoldra (love the way ksoldra always lays it the fuk down with logic) recognize there are four or five other very talented teams this year who are also deserving – and maybe even more so due to the down year in the NVL (good god, Wolcott).

Moving up, as some people put it cannot be correlated in any way to what happened in the past. Too many variables. This year of all years THIS Ansonia team could step up. It’s obvious. Other than Hand and Xavier along with Ansonia there are no teams that should get the No 1 nod. I am a Derby guy but I need to be honest not demonstrate my assholism. It’s funny how Ansonia guys respond to this bullshit. The critics are All jealous haters.

You’re absolutely right, JTS. And I like Jevon 203’s remark because it’s so true. “You have dreams and Ansonia has history”. There are so many bloggers on this site that must stay up at night trying to get the Ansonia fans into an argument that’s it’s sickening. Maybe it’s time for a history lesson: as of today Ansonia has 744 wins – #1 in the state, 16 undefeated and untied seasons – state record, 81 first team All Staters – state record, 31 appearances in the NH Register final Top Ten Poll – state record, 20 appearances in the NH Register Final Top Five Poll – state record, four-time State Champion in final NH Register Poll – state record, 31 CIAC playoff appearances – state record, 25 CIAC title game appearances – state record, 17 CIAC class titles – state record. Thanks to “The Commish” for these historical facts. Nobody else can do the job “The Commish” does, because noboby else has any history.

What I posted was information I was presented with regarding the instances where Ansonia did in fact move up to play the bigger schools. I know that Ansonia has a good shot at beating the top LL schools in the state most years. Realistically speaking, the chances of beating schools like Hand, Xavier, Staples, etc. (the REAL big boys) are obviously lower than when Ansonia faces middle-of-the-road Class S/M schools most years. This is where I think a lot of people get frustrated. It’s not to say Ansonia CAN’T beat these powerhouses. I think the argument is that many NVL/Ansonia supporters (even myself, sometimes) believe that Ansonia can play Hand/X/Staples and demolish each one of those teams without any doubt whatsoever. Do I think Ansonia has a shot? Hell yeah, it does. But would Ansonia be the clear-cut favorite? More often than not, no. I’d absolutely love to see Ansonia face the other top teams in the state.

I will never take anything away from Ansonia because I love watching it play and know many Ansonia folks that have shared the program’s history with me. I can feel the passion. People in town are intense. But my point is, most years, Ansonia would definitely be challenged by the top-3 teams in Connecticut. I believe these match-ups are what us fans (and fans of the SWC/FCIAC/SCC) want to see.

That would be alright with me, Rem. If that happens I’ll ask you for some lottery numbers. I could care less where Ansonia finishes in the polls as long as they bring home the victory and another banner for the gym. See you at the Rent, my friend.

They play the teams on their schedule and that’s that, if NFA beats X, all of the undefeated teams should be made co-number 1 !!!!!!! If there are four undefeated we will have them play a round robin on the practice field behind Kennedy with all proceeds going to Toys for Tots!

Ansonia could be the best team in the state. They could also be the 11th best. We’ll never know because they don’t play anybody in the prognosticated (is that a word?) top 10. One thing they are is the most decorated high school football team this state has ever seen. Why??? Total wins and state championship numbers alone. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’ve done it all.

We’ll never know so its a dumb argument. I’m an Ansonia fan but a realist, I’m sure there are 5 to 6 teams who could beat them this year, anything can happen. No one will shut up until Ansonia plays 1 or 2 out of league games a year against non- NVL teams, so I hope they do it. I think AHS would get more respect getting beat 27-21 by any program Xavier/Hand/NC/Masuk/NFA, whoever, than pounding Torrington. So if it’s allowed & can happen, hope they make it happen. But like the year they played Hillhouse & what I’m already hearing if they play Masuk next year, oh they were down that year! That’s why I respect & like AHS program, cause it’s never down! Oh well onto my picks!
Ansonia
Hillhouse
NFA
Hand
What year was it that Ansonia was #1 all year, won the state title and finished #2? Now that’s weak!!!

If Ansonia wins Saturday and there not 1 who cares. Will be banner 18 going up on the gym wall. Most storied program in CT. Next year they will beat up Masuk and will get no respect. Masuk will go 9-1 in SWC but be down?? Ansonia plays who they plays and wins. Were they finished ranked who cares. It’s fun to debate.

Just a quick thought: I think Ansonia would be competitive with all of the best teams on a regular basis. It’s unlikely that the program would have 17 state titles if it perennially played against Class LL competition but they play who they need to play and get the job done. It’s hard and frankly silly for anyone to sit and say Ansonia WOULD beat a Xavier or a Hand or a Hillhouse every time. I think it’s more realistic to say that Ansonia COULD beat any one of those teams if it were ever to happen. Remember, sports are sports. If two good teams play against each other enough, they’ll usually split games in some fashion.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: My vote is up for grabs this weekend. Whoever impresses me the most at Rentschler Field gets my No. 1 vote. I’ll be at all four games. Looking forward to catching some of you guys at the Saturday morning tailgate.

In other news, here’s a profile on Jh’mel Trammell that I did for today’s Rep-Am. We’ll have some more stuff rolling out throughout the week.

On second thought, maybe Masuk is correct… here is the formula they are using:

Both leagues will use aggregate records from 2011 and 2012 and ranking their teams 1-14 and matching them up to form the 2013 matchup schedule. The following season, however, the SCC-NVL teams will switch opponents. The No. 1 teams will play the No. 2s, the No. 3 teams will crossover to the No. 4s, and so-on.

Just recalculated, it looks like Masuk-Ansonia. Newtown is 18-2 over the last 2 regular seaons , while Masuk is 19-1. And of course Ansonia is 22-0 (or 20-0 if you want to throw away the dumb NVL Championship game.

All West Haven coach Ed McCarthy asked of running back Phil Banks was a foot.

A mere 12 inches that would give West Haven a first down and at least one desperate shot at avoiding overtime.
Banks gave McCarthy that foot and much more.

Capping one of the most dramatic finishes in CIAC playoff history, Banks ran 50 yards on fourth down for a touchdown with 39.2 seconds left to propel top seed West Haven to a 20-13 victory over No. 2 Greenwich in the Class LL championship game at Kennedy Stadium.

DWDrake,
May all your doo-wop records warp, your lead singers lose their falsetto voices and Nicky A. bend your ear for a couple of hours for picking against the Chargers. But we still love you even if you are a “Quack”.

North branford is woodland but with a better defense. Alot better and more aggressive defense! Woodland wasn’t suffering from Murphy’s Law as kyle said in his article, the North Branford kids just went up and ripped the ball out of their hands. North Branford will be able to stop their running game and this game is going to come down to Ansonia’s passing game. Woodland had the deep ball all day against NB. NB doesn’t really have any deep threats so their offense will have to sustain long drives with short intermediate passes that will keep Ansonia off the field. But ultimately SPEED KILLS , Ansonia is finally going to have a challenge this weekend but will squeak by.

woodland also had 4 receivers NB had to cover. Woodland is a pass first offense. The run game is the last thing NB was worried about. I’m sure NB will have 8-9 in the box against ansonia. NB has size and some speed. Going to be a tough match up

Fancher is awesome. The only reason I brought this up was because I highly doubt NB has seen a defense as good as Ansonia’s. Not to say NB can’t hang 28 or even win the game. But it’s going to be harder than any game they’ve played this year. The same can be said for Ansonia.

dukerock12 Newsome will go for over 200yards in this one. That D is average at best. AHS is going to fly rite out the gate and wear N B down AHS 49-21.By the end of the 2nd qt the NB QB will be getting chased all over the place.

In the other games I like NFA to win and state a claim to number 1. The House will kill Berrlin. Windsor and Hand should be a great one. I like Windsor to win a real close one and cause all hell to see who gets number 1.

I’m apprehensive about writing this only because the kids read this stuff. I know how these kids (Ansonia) think and it doesn’t matter if we say its going to be close, its going to be a blowout or they lose. They respect the game, their opponents and the small window of opportunity they have to leave their mark. With that being said, this will be the best team these kids have played all year. How good is North Branford? 2 whole points better then Hyde! What’s the rationale in thinking that it won’t just be close, but Ansonia will lose. Some of you guys need to stop “” riding the other leagues, teams and talent. Ansonia’s DB’s are going to play press man and Lisi will send heat like this kid has never seen before. Its their last game and these little dudes are going to play out of their minds, count on it!

I hear what you’re saying, CO, and definitely hope AHS blows em out of the f’n water. But a couple of turnovers here and couple of calls that go against you there, all of a sudden you got 19 seniors with a balanced O and good coach playin their hearts out. Could be a blowout but could easily be a nail biter.

Ledyard last season had a much better defense that had some athletes and held its own against AHS for a while. Ill have to go check the stats but I doubt NB defense stacked up to that defense and Newsome went well over 100 yards. I’m not saying NB can’t keep it close or even win anything can happen. But with this being those seniors last game especially Matos, Finney and Jamel AHS is going to bring intensity like you’ve never seen.